Keirsey felt her heart sway in an instant - but at the sa ti, fear crept in.
Susan seed to overestimate her. Maybe it seed simple from Susan's point of view... but to Keirsey, who was still painfully inexperienced, it was overwhelming.
Several days in a row, she said. Even one day would be agonizing. How was that even possible?
But Susan was quick-witted.
This used to be the territory of pain before it beca ls' domain.
Holding onto a tavern in the middle of a cri-ridden neighborhood hadn't been re luck.
Reading Keirsey's emotions like a book, Susan spoke softly, soothing her.
"Lady ls, just listen. All it takes is patience. Everything else is easy."
"...Patience..."
Keirsey couldn't quite grasp what kind of patience Susan ant, but she slowly nodded.
This was advice coming from an expert.
If she mastered it, she could finally get ahead of other won - especially her sister, Asena.
Besides, Susan said it was the current trend.
No matter how much Asena studied, trends weren't sothing you could learn from books.
Keirsey would do anything - anything - to be the one most loved by Cayden.
"Please teach ," she said firmly.
Susan nodded, leaned in, and began to whisper the thod to her.
At first, Keirsey's determined face held steady, but as she listened longer...and longer, her cheeks gradually turned crimson.
Susan spent a long ti explaining every minute detail to her.
By the ti they were done, Keirsey had her head lowered, biting her lip.
Her expression was a complex mix-part embarrassnt, part happiness, part anxiety, part anticipation.
"...It... it sounds too hard to endure..."
Keirsey whispered.
****
When Keirsey returned to the estate, she found Cayden pacing anxiously in the square before the fortress.
At his side were the soldiers who had gone out searching for her.
"Keirsey!"
As soon as Cayden spotted her, he rushed over in a frantic sprint.
Keirsey hadn't yet figured out what expression she should make when facing him.
On the way back, she had been so caught up replaying Susan's instructions in her mind that she forgot to prepare for this mont.
Startled, she froze as Cayden approached and gently cupped her face.
“Hup...!"
"Are you hurt anywhere?"
"...Huh?"
Cayden's face was filled with worry, guilt, and an overwhelming sense of responsibility.
It had only been a single day since they last saw each other, but sohow, it felt like they were reuniting after a long separation.
Keirsey didn't understand why her heart ached so much just seeing him.
Still, she steeled herself.
She observed his face and decided how she needed to act.
Keirsey had already confessed once before - she wasn't as pure as Cayden believed her to be.
If it ant being loved by him, she was willing to do anything.
...Though she had learned to moderate herself a little better now, she felt this was a situation she could afford to take advantage of.
After all, Susan had said Cayden's desire would be just as important for what she planned to do.
"...Hmph."
Keirsey turned her head slightly, pretending to sulk.
She already knew her sneaking out to the city had been reckless.
She knew she had made a mistake.
Yet she hadn't been able to stop herself.
She brushed his hands away and began walking toward the garden.
But all her attention was focused behind her - on Cayden.
He had to follow.
Nervously, anxiously, Keirsey walked slowly.
If he got fed up with her antics and turned away... she was ready to throw pride aside and grab his pant leg if she had to.
Luckily, Cayden followed.
"...Keirsey. Can we talk?"
"......Hmph."
Of course, Keirsey had her reasons, too.
Cayden had gone too far last night.
Just thinking about it still left her heart heavy.
She wasn't completely without grievances to air.
Without answering him, Keirsey kept walking deeper into the garden.
It was the wrong thing to be thinking, but... sohow, the fact that Cayden was chasing after her, trying to comfort her, made her feel strangely happy.
It felt as if he was clinging to her.
Once they reached a secluded spot where they were truly alone, Keirsey turned to face him.
But when she tried to bring up all the resentnts she had bottled up since last night, the emotions started flooding back.
Now that it was just the two of them, she couldn't help but want to whine a little.
How could she be so one-dinsional?
Even Keirsey herself was a little stunned.
"...Oppa, do you love ?"
Unable to hold back her emotions any longer, Keirsey asked.
This wasn't a ga anymore.
It wasn't an act.
Her true feelings were spilling out.
"...I love you."
"Then why does it feel like you hate ?"
"Why do you do everything with unnie, but always push aside? Why do I always co second to her?"
Before she realized it, Cayden had pulled her into his arms.
Burying her face against his chest, Keirsey let out the words she'd been holding in.
"... You said we'd do it later. But why do you hug Unnie right away? Why don't you push her away like you do with ?”
"...I'm sorry. It's not because I don't like you."
"...Liar. Tell the truth. You don't like , do you?"
If he really answered that he didn't like her -
Keirsey felt certain she would start crying uncontrollably.
She wasn't asking because she wanted to hear it.
She was begging him to deny it.
"...No. It's not like that. Not at all."
"...I'm trying too. I love you too. But why does it always feel like you're just going through the motions when it's with ?"
As Keirsey spoke, she could clearly feel the heavy, pent-up knots in her chest unraveling.
It wasn't just that she hated being pushed aside.
What hurt even more was being treated like a consolation prize.
It felt like - since he had already done these things for Asena - he was now reluctantly doing the sa for her because she was her twin.
It was like inheriting Asena's hand--downs.
If it was sothing he had already given to Asena, it no longer felt sincere when it ca to her.
Keirsey didn't want Cayden to express love to her because he had done so for Asena.
She wanted to be loved first-wanted Asena to be the afterthought, not her.
Cayden only held her tighter and whispered softly into her ear.
"...This ti, it's my fault. I crossed the line even by my own standards. But please believe . It was never because I didn't love you."
Keirsey swallowed down her lingering hurt.
The real conversation was about to begin.
"...Can you prove it?"
"...What?"
"That you love ..."
Keirsey lifted her head from his chest, gazing up at him with trembling, vulnerable eyes - without even realizing it herself.
"...Will you prove it to ? For ...?"
Cayden looked down at Keirsey for a long mont.
Then he bent down and placed a tender kiss on her forehead.
-Smooch.
"...Of course, Keirsey."
He smiled at her as if he were handling the most precious treasure in the world - and made a quiet promise.
After that, Keirsey asked for just one thing.
****
For the next five days, she wanted to listen carefully to whatever she asked.
If there was sothing I really didn't want to do, I could refuse - but she hoped I would agree to everything, if possible.
It wasn't a problem for .
Just like I had predicted, a relationship with Asena after she caught sleeping with Judy, I had already expected that once Keirsey caught with Asena, she and I would eventually
end up like this too.
I had braced myself to go all the way - past the point of no return.
There was no request Keirsey could make that I couldn't accept.
...Well, unless she suddenly reverted to her wicked side and asked for sothing insane, like having sex in front of everyone.
As I organized paperwork with Daisy, I tried to calm the complicated ss of my thoughts.
Lately, everything seed to be accelerating.
It wasn't that I disliked it, but adapting to the rapidly shifting relationships was overwhelming.
Since it was all new to , figuring out how to maintain the right distance going forward also left tangled up in thought.
Maybe sensing my turmoil, Daisy ca to stand quietly beside and placed a hand on my shoulder.
Was she trying to give a massage like she used to?
I smiled and reached up to grasp her hand gently-
But then Daisy spoke.
"...There's sothing on your neck."
My body stiffened instantly.
On my neck, there were still the marks left behind by Asena last night - the faint bite marks and kiss marks.
In the rush of hearing that Keirsey had gone missing this morning, I had completely forgotten to cover them up.
Even if it was just a kiss mark, Daisy wouldn't have missed it.
But bite marks?
There was no way she wouldn't recognize what they ant.
Seeing the flustered look on my face probably confird everything for her.
"...Hmm."
Without another word, Daisy returned to her desk and resud sorting papers.
Even though I hadn't technically done anything wrong to her, I kept glancing over anxiously, watching her reaction.
-Knock knock knock-
Just as I was barely managing to endure the awkward atmosphere, salvation ca.
"C-co in!"
Without even thinking about who it might be, I gave permission to enter.
Soon, Keirsey appeared-looking almost like a maid - as she pushed a cart of food into the room.
"...Keirsey?"
"Oppa, I made lunch. I'd really like you to eat it."
I blinked, quietly impressed.
Was this part of the "requests" she had ntioned?
Asking to eat sothing she had cooked?
Rather than feeling burdened, I was actually grateful.
Keirsey's innocence was almost overwhelming.
She lifted the silver lid covering the plate to reveal the al she had prepared.
"......?"
What lay beneath was... a rather strange assortnt of foods.
It was a stretch to even call it a "dish."
It looked more like a collection of random ingredients thrown together.
Eel - sothing you rarely saw.
Chives - only grown in the North.
Oysters, fatty duck at, and even raw garlic.
It took a long mont for to realize what all these foods had in common.
Every single one of them...
Were famous for being stamina foods.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
I turned to look at Keirsey's face.
"...I really hope you enjoy it."
Behind her innocent smile, I could now glimpse it for the first ti -
The flickering shadows of a hidden desire.
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